Information Release

Information Release
Date: 19 May 2010
A Political Prisoner Passed Away in Myingyan Prison
We, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), have learnt that Ko Kyaw Soe passed away in Myingyan Prison on the morning of 19 May 2010, at age 39. He is the 144th political prisoner to die in prison, in Burma. AAPP expresses its deepest condolences to the family of Kyaw Soe (aka) Kyaw Kyaw Soe (aka) Jeffery.
Ko Kyaw Soe, a member of the Human Rights Defenders and Promoters Network, known as HRDP, was arrested at his residence, No. 264, Shu Mhyaw Khin Street, Thittaw Ward, Taunggyi, on 17 September 2007 and taken to Insein Prison. He was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on 11 November 2008 under 3 charges: Article 17 (1) of the Unlawful Association Act, Article 13 (1) of the Immigration Act and Article 505 (B) of the Penal Code. He was transferred to Myingyan prison on 21 November 2008. He was tortured during interrogation, and was reportedly beaten, burnt with cigarettes and electrocuted.
In Myingyan Prison, Ko Kyaw Soe suffered from a respiratory disease and stomach problems. “He was the 144th political prisoner to die in prison in Burma, since 1988, due to malnutrition, maltreatment and inadequate medical care. When his family members requested the Myingyan Prison authorities to buy appropriate medicine for Ko Kyaw Soe, the prison authorities replied that they had been taking care of him adequately and carefully. Now, it is obvious that they were not treating him properly,” Secretary of AAPP, Tate Naing, said.

“The deplorable conditions in Burma’s prisons: the absence and denial of adequate medical treatment, torture and mistreatment, causes and exacerbates the health problems of prisoners, leading to the tragic deaths of far too many of Burma’s human rights defenders and democracy activists,” Tate Naing said.

Ko Kyaw Soe has left behind a wife, May Han Ei, and a 7 year-old daughter.